Ah yes, yet another reference to The Black Card in hip hop. I’m going to venture to guess that Lil Wayne is a rapper today with a lot of money. This 26-year-old from Louisiana is not playin’ when it comes to to making cake. By the way, if you didn’t know, his label has the fitting name of Cash Money Records.

Weezy is not lying when he says,

Okay I’m Weezy Baby
And I Am From The South Where We Call All Our Women Baby
Hey Baby Hey Baby
All Day I ask Hey Hey Hey
I’m Ballin Like Phay-a-way
3 Letter Credit A-Okay
Black Car Black Card
Girl I Got A Black CardCan I Buy Some Of Your Time And Charge It To My Black Card

On a final note, the original version of this track by artist Lloyd was featured in the multi-million dollar game Grand Theft Auto IV. The GTA IV Game garnered a whopping total of $600 million one week from its release date.

Gossip, gossip. Paolo Zampolli is founder of ID Models Management and one of the world’s premier model agents. Well, this entry isn’t about Zampolli, but rather Lil’ Kim who had the audacity to wear a diamond-studded Black AMEX around her neck with his name on it in a Nylon Magazine photo shoot.

“It’s crazy,” Zampolli said. “I have my real black card in my wallet. It’s got to be a fake. Let me take her to Cipriani’s and I’ll pay for lunch with my real one.” Lil’ Kim’s rep insisted the rapper hadn’t stolen one of Zampolli’s old cards. “Nylon’s stylist gave it to her,” she revealed. No comment from the stylist.

Of course, we know that Lil’ Kim has her own Black Card. It’s just a little weird that she would wear a fake one instead of her own. Maybe the setting of diamonds in Kim’s card would have created problems with swiping. But then, that still leaves the question, why not a fake of Kim’s own Black AMEX? There are some things the world may never know…

You might not know this, but before John Mayer became a pop-icon, he pumped gas to save up for his first guitar in his high school years.

Ironically enough, Mayer still has to pump his own gas–from time to time–only now rather than filling up other people’s tanks, he fills up the tank of his own Cayenne Porsche or whatever other luxury vehicles he has garaged.

Why wouldn’t he use his Black AMEX at the pump? If you’re going to fill your tank with premium gasoline for a high-perfomance engine, you might as well use a premium, high-performance credit card to do it!

You know Mase, right? It’s Diddy’s original boy. You know, before all of the name changes, back when Diddy was still just known as Puff Daddy, Mase joined Bad Boy records in the early 90’s before Sean Jean clothes or the show Making the Band had even run one episode. His peak years on the label were in the late 90’s. Well, ultimately, Mase gave up on the rap game. He fought his way to get the high status that he did. It was unclear as to whether Mase had a speech impediment or just had a nonchalant way of talking that was just cooler than the typical person. Fast-forward from the 90’s to 2004 and Mase released his last record on August 24 of that year, before retiring to then study at Clark Atlanta University in Georgia and move on to getting his Doctor of Theology or Th.D at St. Paul’s Bible Institute in New York. Mase now goes by the name Dr. Mason Betha. But let us not kid ourselves: we’ll always know him as Mase the rapper!

Lyrics from one of the tracks on that career closing record, entitled “Welcome Back,” might be of interest to you. That is, if you’re actually interested in the cultural aspects of America like we are,

I like the fact you’re bourgie

The wrap of your doobie

The way you walk with big bags of Gucci

Forget just buying you rocks, I’ll buy you blocks

Them things that you wanna shop, I’ll get in stock

And it don’t stop there, helicopter to the Lear

AMEX black card, shopper of the year

Around the world and back, with no Visa

I’ll get it so hot in here, it’ll give ya fever

The watch that I’m wearing right now Made in Geneva,

Wavy low Caesar, navy fou’ seater

Girls is snobby, money is my hobby

Cats want to rob me, coupes is wide-bodied

So I’m like mami, move down a seat

Next thing I know, hat blew down the street

Never knew we could have life like this

So much dough, it’ll put your life at risk

So, apparently Mase got out of the rap game without much risk, if you consider being devoutly religious to be risk-free these days.

At any rate, if you’d like to hear the above-referenced clip of the song in its true glory, feel free to click on the following.

Back in 2005 when Kanye West finished performing at a party celebrating the then 26-year-old’s debut on the cover of Source magazine, and was only just beginning to rise to fame as a rap star with his record, “The College Dropout,” West was handed a Black Card by an American Express sales representative. What better way to get your Black Card than to have it handed to you personally by an AMEX employee?

If you didn’t already know, flashy clothes and fashion have been interwoven with the hip hop world like the peanut butter was stuck to the jelly in the last PB&J you ate. Okay, maybe you never eat PB&J sandwiches, but the point is, American Express saw the opportunity to capitalize on Mr. West’s newfound success and passion for designer labels, and what better way to do it than with a Black AMEX with no limit? Self nicknamed “The Louis Vuitton Don,” Kanye has been known to wear more Louis Vuitton attire than most other rappers. I’m sure the French company, Louis Vuitton Malletier, has absolutely no problem with a pop culture icon like Kanye actively promoting their attire.

Oh and just in case you were wondering, all your local Louis Vuitton retailers accept The Black card.

So Kevin Federline reached a settlement agreement for divorce with Britney in March of 2007. That’s old news, but maybe what you didn’t know is that while the couple were still raging strong in their two-year marriage, Britney decided to give old K-Fed her Black Card as a symbol of trust. Now, does this guy look like a someone who could be trusted to you?

Federline had problems with credit card debt in the first place, so Britney’s giving him a Black AMEX was only fueling the fire. But hey, he was an aspiring rapper and former back-up dancer, you never know, with Britney’s connections he could’ve blown up. Oh, wait, he no longer has Britney’s connections or her Black AMEX. That’s too bad for him, however, he did win the battle for the sole custody of the Spears/Federline offspring. Sometimes life just has a way of balancing out, doesn’t it?